According to Emol, the government announced this Friday that it will increase the budget allocated to mining safety. The decision comes after 13 workers died at Chilean mining sites so far in 2026.
Daniel Mas, Minister of Economy and Mining, made the announcement at the close of the Mining Safety Roundtable. He chaired it alongside Undersecretary of Mining Álvaro González, with some 30 representatives of workers, companies, mutual insurance organizations and the state attending.
The meeting included union federation leaders and executives from Codelco, Enami (National Mining Company), BHP and Anglo American. The National Mining Society (Sonami) and the Ministry of Labor also attended.
Mas explained that the aim is to increase inspections and reach more mining sites. However, he did not specify how much additional money would be allocated. For now, the announcement includes no amount.
The National Geology and Mining Service (Sernageomin), the agency that oversees mining activity, did detail how those funds would be used. They will go toward the safety allocation in its 2027 budget and pay for more inspectors, preventive technology and equipment to cover more territory.
The target is to reach 13,000 annual inspections by the end of 2027, 30% more than this year. The service also wants to cover half of the country's mining sites. Put simply: today, one in two mining sites falls outside that coverage target.
"Our goal is zero fatalities," the minister said. He added that responsibility is shared among workers, companies and the state, which is responsible for inspections.
Mas pointed to two factors that, in his view, have changed the situation. One is high staff turnover in the industry. "There is much more turnover in mining today, so we have to train people differently," he said.
The other is the weather. According to the minister, winter operations lasted two months longer this year because of weather conditions.
As part of their agreement, participants committed to conveying to their teams that safety is the number one priority. Mas called for the issue to be treated as a national challenge, regardless of political differences.
The roundtable was convened because of the recent string of accidents. Since September 23, seven people have died, with four of those deaths occurring within fewer than seven days.
The most recent occurred on Wednesday at the Aguilucho mine in Taltal, in the Antofagasta Region. A bulldozer operator employed by Santa Elvira died when the machine he was operating fell about 50 meters.
On Tuesday, a 66-year-old worker died at the Nueva California plant in Illapel. The previous Sunday, an avalanche trapped two contractors clearing snow at the open pit of Codelco's El Teniente Division. Both died.
Pedro Berríos, head of Sernageomin's Emergency Unit, described the series of deaths in large-scale mining as unacceptable and did not rule out considering mining site closures.
The service will relaunch the 21 mining safety rules, focusing on companies' responsibility, and warned that it will impose fines, penalties and closures where warranted. Emol's report does not include reactions from unions following the meeting.
With 13 deaths in 2026, this year's toll already exceeds the 11 fatalities recorded in all of 2024, with two and a half months still remaining.
